The Seventh Dawn
| The 7th Dawn | |
|---|---|
Original film poster by Howard Terpning
|
|
| Directed by | Lewis Gilbert |
| Produced by | Charles K. Feldman |
| Written by | Karl Tunberg |
| Based on |
The Durian Tree 1960 novel by Michael Keon |
| Starring |
William Holden Capucine Tetsuro Tamba Susannah York |
| Music by | Riz Ortolani |
| Cinematography | Freddie Young |
| Edited by | John Shirley Jeremy Saunders |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
|
Release date
|
2 September 1964 |
|
Running time
|
123 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The 7th Dawn is a 1964 Technicolor drama film starring William Holden, Capucine and Tetsuro Tamba. The film set in the Malayan Emergency was based on the 1960 novel The Durian Tree by Michael Keon and filmed on location in Malaysia.
Three friends who fought the Japanese in Malaya during World War II end up on opposing sides in the Communist insurgency following the war. Ferris (William Holden) becomes a prosperous rubber plantation owner, while his mistress Dhana (Capucine) is now head of a schoolteacher's union. The third former guerrilla, Ng (Tetsuro Tamba), goes to Moscow to obtain an education. When he returns, an even more committed revolutionary than during the war, Dhana is torn between the two.
Ferris, whose friendship with Ng makes him and his holdings immune from attack, tries to steer clear of the conflict, but is inexorably drawn in when Dhana is arrested and sentenced to death for carrying explosives for the insurgents. As an additional complication, Candace Trumpey (Susannah York), the daughter of the British Resident whom Ferris had met at the end of the war, is infatuated with the worldly Ferris. The naive Candace offers herself as a hostage and falls into Ng's hands; he threatens to kill her if the sentence on Dhana is carried out. Ferris offers to flush Ng out in exchange for Dhana's life, but is given only seven days to do so.
The Durian Tree was published in 1960. It was written by Australian journalist Michael Keon and the lead character Ferris was an Australian. The New York Times called it "a serious and ambitious novel" but said Keon was "a good reporter but a poor novelist." The Los Angeles Times called it "suspenseful, provocative, ultimately illuminating."
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Wikipedia